


Bond

by Steveuschrist



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Bruce Wayne Needs a Hug, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Bruce is good with kids, Bruce needs sleep, Canon Compliant, Canon Universe, During Canon, Episode: s05e11 They Did What?, Lil Babs is adorable, Minor Wayleska, Past Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne, Responsibility, Self-Reflection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-02 06:18:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18805435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steveuschrist/pseuds/Steveuschrist
Summary: Bruce has to get something off his chest.





	Bond

Bruce couldn’t stop smiling. He’d known Jim for his entire police career, from day one, to becoming Captain, and now he was being promoted to Commissioner. 

Reunification was actually happening. The government was told the truth of the situation and instantly began to bring in humanitarian aid. Jim was being promoted, reconstruction would begin within the next few days. 

But this was a new page in everyone’s lives. Bruce felt it in the air as he watched Jim have the medal put around his neck. Nothing would be the same anymore. 

Bruce wore his best suit to the ceremony. The new mayor the city was introduced, she seemed nice, set on rebuilding as quickly as possible and getting the people the help that they needed. 

Bruce couldn’t do goodbyes. He couldn’t face people any longer. His parents died, their goodbyes were protecting him, Jeremiah died, his goodbye was trying to convince Bruce of something. 

How long had he known that he and and Selina weren’t going to last? Probably at least a couple weeks, when Jeremiah shot her. No Man’s Land was his fault. He hadn’t seen through Jeremiah’s lies and fake personality. Or was it even really fake? All he knew was that Jeremiah was in a coma now because of him. 

Lee and Jim would be able to get officially married now. Barbara would grow up surrounded by her parents and a loving aunt. Bruce sighed. He knew he didn’t do everything for Gotham, he could’ve worked harder to make it safer, but he did help at least a little. 

He stood still once the ceremony was over. He was aware of Oswald and Edward Nygma leaving from the front of the room, a few other people trickling out. Bruce looked over at Jim and Lee. They had managed to come together after strife, after splitting, after prison, after losing a child. He smiled to himself, they looked so happy together- 

He heard a loud high-pitched sound to his left, and he instantly turned. His eyes, along with a few other pairs, fell on the baby wrapped in purple and her mother. Barbara scooped her up into his arms and began to bounce her. 

Baby Babs let out another wail as Barbara carefully held her up. Bruce asked before he could think. “What’s wrong? Is she ok?” 

“Yeah, she probably just needs to be changed-” The baby let out another scream, making Bruce’s eyebrows shoot up. That was one unhappy baby. 

Bruce stepped closer. “Oh, we can just take you to the bathroom..” He trailed off. Baby Babs had fallen completely silent, wide eyes looking up at him. He hadn’t met her yet, she’d been asleep as soon as he’d shown up at city hall and had stayed that way throughout the ceremony.

Barbara smiled. “She likes you. Babs, this is Bruce. He is very close to your father.” 

She reached out a stubby little baby hand. Bruce cleared his throat and pulled off his glove. He held out his hand to her and her tiny little fist gripped onto his index finger. “I.. hello, Babs.” A tiny smile crossed his face. “You’ve got quite the grip, there.” 

She reached over with her other hand and began to swing it in the space between the two of them wildly. Barbara adjusted her hold. “I think she wants you to hold her.” 

An alarm bell rang in Bruce’s head. Hold a baby? He couldn’t hold a baby, he’d never held a baby before. “O-Oh? I don’t..” 

Baby Babs continued to smack the air between them, grip on Bruce’s finger tight. He was aware of many pair of eyes on him. Bruce swallowed thickly, taking off his other glove and stuffing both into his pocket before holding out his hands. “Sure, I mean, if she really wants it..”

“She likes to be held upright.” Barbara was quickly handing her over to him. He gripped her gently, one arm going to support her back, the other the rest of her body. He held her close, and any thoughts of continuing to cry seemed to vanish from her mind. One of her hands gripped his shirt, the other papped his chest gently. 

He felt her legs kick back and forth, bumping into his stomach. She was looking around, taking everything in, but her wide eyes kept on falling back to him. He adjusted her hold on her as she plonked her head on his chest. 

“Bruce, you’re a natural!” He looked up to see Jim and Lee approaching the three of them. 

“Jim, I mean, Commissioner, congratulations.” Bruce smiled at him, putting his hand out to him to shake it. Jim’s grip was warm, strong, after all those years it was unchanged. 

“Oh, here, hold your daughter. Cuz, you know. She’s your daughter.” He held her out to him, and she made a little noise of what he hoped to be delight. 

As soon as she was in Jim’s arms she let out another noise of happiness and began to kick her legs again. Bruce smiled as he saw Jim’s face light up. He couldn’t imagine what it was like to really see your baby, your kid, your child for the first time. As he watched Jim, he felt his stomach tie in knots. He wasn’t going to be around to see Babs grow up for the first few years of her life. Then again, she’d probably be better without his influence. 

No, he’d already made up his mind. 

“How are the reunification efforts?” Bruce asked. “They’ve sort of been keeping all of us in the dark.”

Jim bounced Barbara. “Good. Hopefully the city will be up and running in a few months.”

“I’ll take care of Wayne Enterprises.” Bruce replied quickly. “Once that’s clear I’ll move onto whatever’s next.” He tilted his head when Jim gave him an odd look. “What? I have to help my city get back on its feet.”

Jim slowly nodded once. What was going through that head of his? 

***

The reception at the GCPD was nerve wracking for Bruce. Everyone was going to be there, Selina included. He’d already written his letter to her, he even had it with him to give to someone towards the end of the night. He attempted to seek refuge on the stairs up to the second floor, but it wasn’t hard for her to track him down. 

There were cops dispersed throughout the station. Harvey was sitting on a desk, gesticulating in a fashion that told Bruce that he was likely drunkenly talking about Jim. He knew that he wasn’t alone. His knees nearly hit his chin with how he was sitting on the steps. He glanced down at his jacket. It was frayed at the ends. The suit that he was wearing he’d already paid the store for in double. His sweater that Jeremiah had cut was in a bag in the locker room. The single bag that he would be taking with him. 

Bane came to his mind. He was going to be put away for good, but Walker- no, Nyssa, managed to escape. She got off without so much as a slap on the wrist. Bruce clenched his fists, easily remembering how she hurt Jim, how she tortured him, how she made nearly turned Jim into another version of Bane. It made his skin crawl. 

He was going to find her. He was going to find her even if it took the rest of his life. No matter how long he had to train for, no matter how long it took. 

Selina interrupted his thoughts. “Bruce, what’s wrong?” She climbed up the stairs and sat next to him, looking over at him. “We won.” 

“Nyssa al Ghul is still out there, and she and Bane were right. Everything that happened was because people were trying to hurt me, or hurt those that I love..” He stared ahead of himself. This is why he had to leave. Alfred nearly died for him, Selina nearly died for him. Throughout his entire life, people around him died, made the ultimate sacrifice. 

“Hey..” She turned towards him even more, and he looked over at her. Her eyes popped in that dark cat-like makeup of hers. She grabbed his hand and leaned over. “I will be here whenever you need me.” She narrowed her eyes slightly when he made no response, leaning forward. “What?”

He shook his head gently. “I’m just.. really exhausted, I think. We all need to get some sleep.” 

She nodded and settled her head down, resting it on his shoulder. Selina would kill him for this, and he already knew that when he came back she would be furious if she even dared to speak to him. He knew that she didn’t want protection, but after their fights over years of trying to make what they had work, after what they’d been through, after what Bruce had seen, he had to leave. He had to become stronger. He had to come back when he was really ready, when he was prepared to take on the city and start saving people. 

***

Bruce made his way up to the roof of the GCPD. The room had started to suffocate him, officers crowding, people’s voices growing louder as the night carried on with more celebrations happening. He shut the door gently and made his way over to the spotlight that Jim had shown on the first night of No Man’s Land. He let out a soft sigh. 

He grabbed the sheet that was laid out on the rooftop and began to pull it over the spotlight. It was a new era, a new time in his life. Gotham wouldn’t need this. Jim wouldn’t need to be the beacon of light in the dark. How many innocent lives had been lost because of the tragedies of No Man’s Land? How many families had been separated, how many families were hear of Gotham rejoining the mainland, only for their loved ones to have not made it through the dark year? 

It had been over a year. 391 days. Barbara had gotten pregnant and had a girl in that time. Jim had gotten married. Everyone still in Gotham had had a birthday. Bruce was failing to protect the city in the time that he should’ve graduated and either gone off to school or had his first full year of being the true CEO of Wayne Enterprises. He’d turned 19 and lost weight, and not just from gaining muscle. 

Before Bruce knew it, his mind was wandering to Jeremiah. The man responsible for the bridges being blown, the man who had sent Gotham into this hell hole. Bruce finished covering up the spotlight and wandered towards the end of the roof. He couldn’t see it, but Arkham was off in the distance. He supposed that Jeremiah was going to go there, the hospital wouldn’t keep him. Jeremiah was never even going to wake up, they would put him in a cell in Arkham and leave him to rot. 

That thought struck a nerve with Bruce. Jeremiah was never going to wake up. His brain was essentially gone, he was essentially dead. The man that Bruce pulled out of the chemicals at Ace, the man who was laying in the hospital, unaware of anything around him, he was not the man that Bruce fell for. Thought, at that point, Bruce wasn’t even entirely sure who exactly he’d fallen for. Jeremiah had been sprayed the night of his birthday, the day they first met. 

Bruce had admired him and his work, he’d liked him more than he would ever say out loud, but as soon as they went to that graveyard, as soon as Jeremiah claimed that he was ‘truly sane’ he was someone else. He wasn’t the quiet scientist who Bruce wanted to help. He wasn’t the quiet friend who wanted to save Gotham with Bruce. He was a madman, turned into someone that Bruce no longer recognized. Ra’s told Jeremiah the future, which convinced Jeremiah that he and Bruce were meant to be together forever, but something got lost in translation, or maybe Jeremiah was just that delusional. His actions drove Bruce away, he still didn’t understand why Jeremiah set up his elaborate plan that brought the two of them to Ace Chemicals. 

Bruce let out a soft sigh. He didn’t hate Jeremiah. He hated what he did, what he became, what happened between them, but he didn’t hate him. He missed him. He could’ve done something at Ace, he could’ve stopped him in a different way. He felt selfish for thinking that, he felt selfish for not wanting Jeremiah to essentially be dead after all the destruction he caused, but it was true. If he were still alive then Bruce could’ve gotten him real help, they could’ve tried treatments to reverse the effects of the gas. Once people understood that it wasn’t his fault, that Jerome sprayed him, Jeremiah could’ve been brought back into society, he could’ve stayed with Bruce in the manor instead of staying in that lonely bunker. 

Bruce shook his head, pushing those thoughts from his head. If Jeremiah blowing the bridges for him wasn’t reason enough to leave, Bruce wasn’t sure what was. He’d technically helped in bringing the destruction to Gotham, he’d indirectly helped by dragging Jeremiah out to face Jerome with him. He’d funded Jeremiah’s research to build generators that became the bombs. Jerome, Jeremiah, Ra’s, Nyssa, Bane, they all were connected by him, he was the problem, he was the one who ruined everything- 

“Bruce?”

The young man turned around, seeing a very familiar face in the doorway to the roof. “Jim.” The Commissioner walked forward with a bundle in his arms. As he approached, Bruce quickly realized that it was little Babs. “What are you doing up here? I thought you’d be enjoying the party.” 

“Figured I’d ask the same of you.” Jim stood next to him, bouncing Barbara gently. “We both needed a break from the party, I assume you did, too. I saw you make your escape a few minutes ago.” 

Bruce gives him a small smile. “Parties aren’t really my thing.” 

“She managed to fall asleep.” Jim glanced down to Barbara, smiling at her. “I don’t know how she pulled that one off.” Bruce looked down at her, and suddenly her eyes popped open. 

“Oh.” Bruce swallowed thickly. “Sorry, I guess I woke her up.” Her tiny eyes stared up at Bruce, partially sideways and upside down. 

“Barbara was right, she likes you.” Jim adjusted his hold on her. She began to wiggle in his arms, her tiny hand suddenly pointing in Bruce’s general direction. Bruce placed his index finger on her palm and she squeezed her tiny fist around it, moving it and Bruce’s finger up and down just like earlier. Jim spoke up again, his voice soft. “I’m honestly not really sure how this whole custody thing is going to work out.”

Bruce blinked. “I thought you and Lee were going to switch off with Barbara.” 

“Barbara is going into business. Legit business.” Jim said, looking over at Bruce. “Obviously the three of us are going to make her a priority, but with my promotion and the city changing again, sometimes thing can’t work out, and I’m not sure how I feel about putting her in some daycare place in the city.” 

“That’s easy, just call Alfred and he can look after her for a few hours.” Bruce said without hesitation. 

Jim looked at him with furrowed brows. “You’re sure he won’t mind?”

“Alfred has taken care of me for my entire life. Spending a few hours with Barbara once in a while will be a walk in the park for him. He won’t have to worry about masked ninjas or crazy men coming after her… hopefully.” 

The older man let out a short laugh. “As long as I don’t hear about you filling her head with ideas of coming with me to work to help with murder investigations.” 

“I don’t know about that one, the three most prominent figures in her life are all very strong-willed and determined people.” Bruce gave him a small smile, and at that moment Barbara decided to let out a little squeal. Bruce blinked, looking down at her. 

She began to wiggle more and more in Jim’s arms. He lifted her up some and looked from her to Bruce. “She’s tired of me holding her, it’s your turn.” 

“Oh, sure, I guess.” Bruce held out his hands and took Barbara from Jim, holding her up against his chest. He had no clue as to why she seemed to like him so much. He’d never interacted with small children, much less babies. She rested her head on his shoulder. 

“Hey, Jim!” 

Jim glanced back to the stairs up to the roof, Bruce recognized Harvey’s voice. Honestly, with how drunk he’d seen him earlier, it was a miracle he’d made it up all the stairs. “Get yourself back down here, we need you! Bring Bruce, too!” 

Bruce quickly shook his head, turning a bit. “I think I’ll stay up here, Detective.” He looked back at Jim. “Go on, I’ll stay up here with her, away from all the insanity.” 

Jim nodded. “Thanks, I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Bruce adjusted his hold on Barbara and held her close as Jim joined Harvey. When the door to the roof shut, he let out a soft sigh. “Just you and me, Babs.” 

He pulled the blanket around her just a little tighter. She was so small compared to him, it was hard for him to believe that a little over 19 years ago, he was roughly the size of her, just born, the first and only child that his parents would ever have. The only son that Alfred would ever have. 

“I first met your father on the worst night of my life. I was scared, I was cold, but your father was very kind to me. He made a promise to me that he still holds to this day: that no matter how dark and scary the world may be, there will be light, and there will be hope.” He gazed over the city skyline again, full of ambulances and troops who were finally coming to help the city. “We’ve disagreed on a number of things during our friendship. We have fought and been annoyed with each other to no end, but we have also been brought back together each time by our common goal: to make Gotham a better and safer place.” Bruce bounced her a little, and she giggled. “All both of us want is a place where you can grow up and be safe. Jim can do that through police work, through his job, but I.. I can’t. I have to leave so that I can become stronger.” 

Bruce looked back at the now-covered spotlight. “So, because I won’t be here to help, do a few things for me, alright? Your parents are very strong, but they are also stronger together, even if they can’t see it. So if either of them tries to shoulder something alone that you can help with without putting yourself in danger, make sure to help.” Babs simply stared back at him with wide eyes, kicking her legs against his torso. He took that as a yes. 

“Next, your Aunt Lee. You won’t understand until you’re much older, but Lee has been through a lot, and she loves your dad a lot. They finally got married a couple of weeks ago after going through this whole ordeal that The Riddler was involved with and-” Bruce shook his head. “It’s a long, long story. But just know that Lee is always going to be there for you, even if she isn’t your parent. Alfred is next. As long as you don’t cause too much havoc in the manor, you’ll be fine. He pretends he doesn’t like kids, but he does, he’ll treat you like one of his own. He’s a British spy, but don’t tell anyone that I said that.” He winked at her, then his eyes began to follow an ambulance meandering down the street. 

“And Lucius will be around, too. He’s really smart, the smartest man I know, he has a fancy degree and everything. He’ll be there if you ever need help. And make sure that Harvey doesn’t drink too much, alright? I get the feeling he’ll want to be a good role model for you, anyway.” 

The ambulance turned a corner and disappeared. “I.. don’t know how long I’ll be gone for. I don’t exactly know how long it will take me to become stronger, hopefully not too long..” Just how long was he planning on? Months? Years? “I can’t tell anyone else besides you and Alfred. If I tell your dad then.. he’s just going to try to convince me to stay..” He frowned, swallowing thickly. He wouldn’t be able to see Jim’s face when he broke the news. And telling Selina? She can move on once she reads the letter he left for her. “He won’t understand, it’s too complicated.” 

He looked down at her and realized she had passed out on his chest, her round cheek pressed against his shoulder. He made his way over to the spotlight, making sure that he didn’t move her around too much. He glanced at the door to the stairs, then shook his head. 

“I think we’ll just stay up here for a bit longer.”

**Author's Note:**

> This took WAY too long to get out because of school getting in the way but hey! I did it!! I'm only a little late!!   
> Thank you guys for reading as always! Comments and kudos always appreciated so I know what people do and don't like! Also just cuz Gotham is over doesn't mean that we are! I'm going to get the second/final chapter for my Gotham/Infinity War crossover out next now that Endgame is out and pretty much 99% of people who want to see it have seen it. Also if anyone is in the market for Wayleska/BatJokes RPs hit me up on tumblr, I love RPing so much!


End file.
